Maharashtra Reports Two More Omicron Cases, Tally Reaches 10

This is the second day in a row that Maharashtra has reported Omicron cases. With the latest cases in Mumbai, India now has 23 Omicron patients.

States are re-tightening preventive measures and ramping up vaccination in the face of the Omicron threat (PTI)

New Delhi: Two more people tested positive for the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in Maharashtra on Monday, taking the state's count to 10. Both the patients do not have any symptoms, ANI reported. 

A 37-year-old man who returned from South Africa and his 36-year-old female friend who returned from the United States on November 25 have been detected with the Omicron variant.

The Maharashtra government said the patients had taken Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine. Five high-risk and 315 low-risk contacts of the patients have been traced so far, ANI reported.

This is the second day in a row that Maharashtra has reported Omicron cases. With the latest cases in Mumbai, India now has 23 Omicron patients.

On Sunday, Maharashtra had reported seven cases of the Omicron variant. All of them were from Pune district. 

The first Omicron case in Maharashtra was reported on December 4. A man from the Kalyan-Dombavili region had tested positive after travelling from South Africa to Mumbai via Dubai and Delhi.

Omicron variant was also found in the Covid-19 samples of nine persons in Rajasthan's Jaipur and a fully vaccinated man who arrived in Delhi from Tanzania on Sunday.

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the government was closely monitoring the situation and any decision on reimposing restrictions in the state would be taken only after seeking the Centre's guidance, PTI reported.

"It will be too inconvenient for the people if restrictions are imposed on the activities currently allowed," he said. The minister said the state government was focusing on vaccinating people while stressing on the need to implement Covid-19 rules strictly.